The harvest is all but wrapped up around Middleton, Co. Cork. AgriLand spoke to Mark Hosford and Laura O’Connell of Southern Fuels and Farm Supplies this week.
The spring barley crop – much of which is grown for Boortmalt – had all been collected and, according to Mark, yields came in at 3.0-3.5t/ac at average moisture contents of 18-19%.
Mark told AgriLand: “Spring barley crops did very well – 3.5t. Most of it was bushelling in the mid 60s. Towards the end bushel did start to drop off a little bit. People are happy.
“We’re wrapped up. We’re more or less finished. Malting barley is our big crop and we’re happy enough.”
Oats and wheat
Husky spring oats looked to be yielding around the 3t/ac mark, while reports from winter wheat in the area were mixed.
The pair said that the majority of the harvest is now in. Malting barley is now the company’s biggest crop and this year farmers in the region were making the grade for the specifications.
As the rush of harvest work is now over in the region, Mark stated that a number of farmers are now putting in catch crops and said that he is encouraging a lot of his customers to plant in the coming days.